As Gus Atkinson starred for England, driver who killed his mother was jailed after extradition fight

As Gus Atkinson was celebrating taking four for 67 against West Indies at Edgbaston on July 26, one of many thrilling performances in his meteoric rise this summer, 120 miles south at Southwark Crown Court the man responsible for his mother’s death was sentenced to 8½ years’ imprisonment.

It was the end of a four-year legal fight to bring to justice actor Youssef Berouain, whose credits include parts in EastEnders, Doctors and the 9/11 mini series The Looming Tower.

A Telegraph Sport investigation can now reveal the full details of the case which started on Dec 10, 2020, on a street in Fulham when a car driven by Berouain was involved in an accident that killed Caroline Atkinson, a 55-year-old mother of three.

Police alleged Berouain was driving at double the speed limit in a 30mph zone. Officers at the scene said they could smell cannabis on his person and he was acting erratically before refusing to undergo roadside testing.

While passing sentence, Mr Justice Hehir, the judge, said Berouain had been driving at “ludicrously high speed” and was guilty of “criminal stupidity and selfishness”.

But the story does not end on the streets of Fulham on a wet night in the lead-up to Christmas four years ago. The actions of Berouain would lead to a long legal fight, because he flew to Dubai soon after the incident, before eventually travelling to the United States. It took in court hearings in London and Los Angeles, requiring the intervention of the US Marshals Service and officials at the British Embassy in Washington invoking the countries’ extradition treaty to bring him in front of Southwark Crown Court.

He pleaded guilty on June 14. Two weeks later, Atkinson was named in the first Test squad of the summer while the family awaited the sentencing. Six weeks later Berouain was jailed, by which time Atkinson had made an astonishing start to his Test career.

The Atkinson family had no part in the Telegraph investigation and declined to comment, but they were informed of the story well in advance and have given approval for it to be published. Details are being revealed for the first time with their knowledge to observe one of the basic principles of the British legal system – that justice must be seen to be done, and the public made aware of the devastating crimes committed by Berouain because, until now, they have passed unreported.

Berouain eventually pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving this summer. The judge took into account his failure to provide a specimen sample for analysis on the night of the accident when passing sentence.

He also said Berouain moving to the US and the subsequent delay bringing him to court due to extradition hearings was a “source of great distress” to the Atkinson family, as well as a friend who had been badly injured.

The friend spent three weeks in hospital, six weeks in a rehabilitation clinic and subsequently suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt. Three-and-a-half years later, she was still in daily pain. “Every time I walk, I am reminded of that night,” she said in her victim impact statement read to court.

Berouain, 31, was handed an 8½-year prison term for causing Caroline’s death, and a concurrent sentence of three years for causing serious injury to her friend. Ed Atkinson, Caroline’s husband and Gus’s father, read out a victim impact statement in court.

The judge said: “Her death robbed her of the chance to become a grandmother, and her children and in due course grandchildren are forever deprived of her presence and love as their lives progress. The picture that emerges from these statements is of a formidable woman, fiercely devoted to her children and who stood up for what was right. She was also evidently a community-minded individual. I am very moved by her husband’s description of the street in which she lived being lined by hundreds of friends and mourners on the day of her funeral. That shows that she was a much-loved and respected woman.”

All this happened while Atkinson was on the rise from the Surrey academy to the top of the sport. The story illustrates how well the 26-year-old responded to adversity and turned it into a driving force, a source of motivation to succeed. It is also great credit to his mother as an inspiring role model to her children, and part of her legacy is how he has adapted successfully to international cricket.

He cemented his status as one of the leading players of the next generation with two historic individual performances at Lord’s, taking 12 wickets on his Test debut in July – the best by an England debutant since 1890 – and a century against Sri Lanka last week to become one of only six cricketers to appear on both honours boards. “Extremely proud. She would have loved to have been here,” Atkinson said when asked what his mother would have made of his 118 on day two of the second Sri Lanka Test. He rounded off the match with five wickets in the second innings, becoming the first England cricketer to take a five-wicket haul and score a century in the same Test since Ian Botham 40 years ago.

Atkinson is England’s leading wicket-taker this summer with 33 at 18 runs apiece and his century proved his credentials as a lower-order batsman. Ed recently told Telegraph Sport how cricket helped Gus cope with his mother’s death. “I basically emphasised the importance of carrying on. I said: ‘Gussy, you’ve got to go and prove what Mum set out – that you can do it.’” Within days, Gus was back in the winter nets at the Oval. “I want to bowl for England, I want to take five and I want to hold the ball up and say: ‘Thanks, Mum,’” he told his father.

At 10.20pm on Dec 10, 2020, Caroline ordered an Uber, a Toyota Prius, in south London. About five minutes into her journey, it was struck by an Audi Q7 SUV driven by Berouain. According to extradition papers lodged at the North Spring Street Courthouse in Los Angeles, a police investigator who attended and examined the scene of the collision at the junction of Niton Street and Fulham Palace Road calculated Berouain’s car was travelling at a speed of “between 63 and 66 miles per hour” in a 30mph zone. Prior to the collision, 12 CCTV cameras in the area filmed the Audi accelerating “quickly” through an intersection and then “using a bus lane” to pass a number of vehicles. The crash investigator later determined that a car travelling at 63mph would require “68 metres to stop”. He also calculated that a car driven at 30mph could have stopped within 15 metres, thus avoiding the collision.

The court documents further reveal that a police officer who spoke to Berouain at the scene “observed a strong smell of cannabis coming from Berouain’s person”. Another officer described his behaviour as “erratic”. Berouain was arrested when he refused to undergo a roadside breath test.’

The judge viewed footage of Berouain in the custody suite after the accident and from the body cam worn by police officers at the scene. “None of it does you any credit,” he said.

Caroline died from her injuries just over two hours after the accident. Berouain was detained at Hammersmith Police Station and at 4.30am was asked to provide blood and urine samples. He refused and when interviewed by police claimed he was driving at 20-30mph and could not avoid the Uber.

He was let go that night on police bail and subsequently released under investigation. On Jan 28, 2021, court records show that he left the country from Heathrow Airport and subsequently flew to the US. This was only discovered by police seven months later when an officer visited his address in London to serve charge papers for failing to provide a specimen.

Aware that he was now in the US, Metropolitan Police officers contacted colleagues in Los Angeles. On July 5, 2023, US marshals, liaising with police officers in London, tracked him down to an address in Los Angeles by using driving licence application details he had submitted when moving to California. He was not at the address and the landlord said he had not paid rent for a year but provided investigators with his mobile phone number. Berouain was arrested on July 20 and extradition proceedings began immediately. He was detained and extradition was granted in September of last year.

As Berouain’s extradition proceedings went through the US courts, Atkinson impressed enough in the Hundred, reaching bowling speeds of 95mph, to be named in England’s white-ball squads last summer, making his debut in a one-day international against New Zealand. He was later named in the World Cup squad and for the Test tour to India.

Berouain appeared at Southwark Crown Court and pleaded guilty to two charges on June 14. On July 26 – the first day of the third Test against West Indies at Edgbaston – he was sentenced. As well as the prison term, he was disqualified from driving for three years, with an “uplift” of four years three months to cover the time he will spend in jail, making a total of seven years and three months from the date of sentence. He will also be subject to an extended retest if he seeks to reapply for a driving licence.

Berouain was described in court documents as a “working actor” and his agent said he “has featured in various roles on TV and film and everyone always speaks very highly of his attitude, positive personality and work ethic”.

Berouain’s page on X shows he was represented by the BWH Agency and a few months before the accident he published footage of himself being stopped, searched and arrested by police in a rental car accusing them of having “f------ up”. He wrote on X: “They said I have guns & drugs on me because im in a rental..! they didn’t find nothing but still arrested me even took me 4 a strip search.”

In 2013 he appeared in eight episodes of EastEnders, playing Tayo, a teenage gang member. His IMDb page lists 14 credits in various short films and television series, including as a terrorist in The Looming Tower, a drama that was nominated for several awards. He posted footage of his part in the film on YouTube just days before the accident. His last credit is a role in a short film Bulldozer, released in January 2022, which is available on BBC iPlayer.

Atkinson recently said about his mother: “Once she passed away, my career could have gone one of two ways and I wanted to take it in the direction she would have wanted. And that I wanted as well.” To achieve what he has, and to appear outwardly focused on cricket despite the trauma of this case, puts his success into even greater context. He has certainly taken the direction his mother wanted.